history in the making - Peregrine Semiconductor

HISTORY IN THE MAKING
D r i v i n g t h e R F S O I Re vo l u t i o n
T
he Peregrine Semiconductor story is about many
things. It is about a willingness to take risks, diligence, innovation, hard work
and the nurturing of strong partnerships. It is the story of the founders’ ability
to look forward and understand what would be important tomorrow - the ability to
“read the tea leaves” if you will. It is the success story of a semiconductor company that
accomplished what the industry thought was impossible, and now leads the market today
as a communications company.
During the 1970s a battle was waged between analog and digital to determine the
optimum method of electric signal distribution of information. Digital won in 1975 and
took over everything through the 70s, 80s and 90s, driving a literal digital revolution.
Computing power followed Moore’s Law – named after Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore –
which states that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately
every two years driving exponential improvement in performance. The digital
revolution drove digital electronics into nearly every segment of the world economy.
The semiconductor market on its own is relatively small, but the markets it drives are
immense. Today, global semiconductor industry revenues exceed $300 billion annually,
but it is the semiconductors’ capabilities that drive the global trillion dollar electronics
industry. In the U.S. alone, the semiconductor industry, one of the country’s top exports,
directly employs nearly 250,000 people, and the industry supports more than one million
additional jobs.
In the late 70s, Peregrine’s founders began diligently solving the technical challenges and
overcoming the barriers required to make advanced SOI (silicon on insulator) commercially
feasible. Their research initially focused on a sapphire substrate, known by the industry
as SOS (silicon on sapphire). SOS, in spite of showing great promise, was demonstrating
manufacturing problems that had led the other semiconductor companies to abandon
further development of the sapphire substrate. While the rest of the industry deemed it
impossible, the founders persisted, and after years of research and development, the “aha
moment” came. In 1988, Peregrine founders Ron Reedy and Mark Burgener and colleague
Graham Garcia published a research paper that would serve as the foundation for
Peregrine’s UltraCMOS® technology, a patented advanced form of SOI.
Peregrine’s strength in sapphire substrates offered a clear advantage. Sapphire
did not interfere with RF signals. With radios driving the advancement of wireless
communications, Peregrine’s continuing development of the UltraCMOS technology
was evolving to address the critical integration requirements for communications device
development.
Today, Peregrine’s technology provides critical communication pathways for devices used
around the globe and beyond, from the Mars Rover to the iPhone. Peregrine chips have
traveled to every planet except Uranus. Handheld devices daily deliver conversations and
critical data using a Peregrine chip. The critical communications channels used by our first
responders and military rely on the performance of Peregrine’s chips in their devices and
networks.
As the story continues to unfold, Peregrine announces the shipment of its two billionth
chip and the release of UltraCMOS 10 technology, their newest integrated RF solution.
With an eye always to the future, the 25 years of Peregrine innovation we describe here
will surely be the springboard to the next 25.
The “Aha Moment”
In January 1988, Ron Reedy, Mark Burgener and Graham
Garcia, researchers at the Naval Ocean Systems Center
(NOSC), published their advanced SOI (silicon on insulator)
research findings in the IEEE Electron Device Letters in a
paper titled: “High Quality CMOS in Thin (100 nm) Silicon on
Sapphire”. The findings in this paper unveiled the value and
potential of sapphire as a substrate. This paper also served as
the foundation for the continued research and development
for Peregrine’s UltraCMOS technology. As the paper’s
abstracts notes, “These results indicate that DSPE-improved
SOS films thinned to 100nm are suitable for application to
high-performance down-scaled CMOS circuitry.”
1 gallon of gas: 91 cents
Movie Ticket: $3.50
US Postage Stamp: 24 cents
Dozen Eggs: 65 cents
1988
CDs outsold
vinyl records
for the first time.
Motorola
introduced the
first flip phone.
1989
The Berlin wall
came down.
Peregrine Opens Its Doors
In 1990, Peregrine became a reality for founders Ron
Reedy, Mark Burgener and Rory Moore. With Reedy and
Burgener responsible for advancing the technology,
Moore provided the startup capital and took on the
role as the company’s first CFO responsible for finance,
business development, marketing and human resources.
He also led the funding efforts of the early investor
rounds, which totaled more than $18M from friends and
families of the founders.
In February of 1990, the company incorporated
in Delaware, and in March, the name Peregrine
“
I had a tenured government job, six weeks
of paid vacation, a pension and a lab full
of expensive equipment, but I also had this
entrepreneurial spirit and a hunch that we
could accomplish something great.
Ron Reedy, co-founder of Peregrine
Semiconductor became official. For the first half of the
year, Peregrine conducted reviews with Intel, Motorola,
HP, UC and others. In June, Peregrine obtained the
fundamental UltraCMOS patent from HP and Caltech.
In August of that year, the Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement (CRADA) was submitted to
the Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC). The company
continued to focus on development of the business plan
and refining the market analysis required to move the
venture forward. They also continued development of a
6” wafer.
1990
A space shuttle
placed the Hubble
Space Telescope
in orbit.
The first in-car
satellite navigation
system was sold.
”
Commercializing the Technology
The CRADA submitted to NOSC was signed in
1991. This marked the launch point of Peregrine’s
commercialization of the UltraCMOS technology. This
spirit of cooperation represented NOSC’s willingness
to allow businesses outside of the Federal Government
to advance the development and application of unique
technologies. This agreement enabled the development
of integrated circuits using thin-film silicon on sapphire
(TFSOS) sub-micron device technology. Research with
TFSOS began in 1979 at the NOSC Microelectronics
Lab. “We are now recognized as the world leader in
TFSOS technology,” said Dr. Isaac Lagnado, senior
staff scientist of the Marine Sciences and Technology
Department at NOSC. “Peregrine will be seeking to
develop specific applications of commercial value for
this technology.
The world’s first commercial
GSM call was made on July
1, 1991 over a Nokia-supplied
network.
1991
Strategic Partnerships
The Communication Revolution
Co-founder Mark Burgener pulled together a top-notch team
In 1993, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) – the
that worked on transferring the R&D technology to mainstream
showcase event for emerging technology – Ron Reedy challenged his
production. This included developing a technology that was simple
team to observe and document the use of portable computers versus
to transfer and managing the relationships between Peregrine and
cell phones amongst the attendees at the show. When the results
the fabs. In 1991, Peregrine established a partnership with Union
were tallied, the data demonstrated a sea change - cell phone use
Carbide, the world’s leading supplier of silicon on sapphire wafers.
outpaced computer use by 30:1. The digital revolution was moving to
Over the next few years, Union Carbide would work with Peregrine
the next phase of evolution – the communication revolution. Wireless
on developing a 6” wafer. In 1993, Peregrine selected IBM as its
communication was the future, and Peregrine was poised to be a
fab, and the UltraCMOS process was successfully installed at IBM’s
leader.
Rochester, MN facility.
“
On July 12, 1993 Peregrine filed its first UltraCMOS patent. Over
the next 20 years, Peregrine would file more than 150 new patent
Now that we had the technology, we
applications.
needed to determine what exactly we
would accomplish.
Mark Burgener,
”
co-founder of Peregrine
1991-1993
1993
Peregrine Selects
a New Fab
First Chip Delivery
In August 1995, Peregrine
In 1994, Peregrine selected Asahi Kasei
hand-delivered the
Microsystems (AKM) as its new fab. The AKM
first 100 chips of its
Nobeoka wafer fabrication facility began its
first product, a 2.5 GHz
operation in 1993, and AKM Semiconductor
fractional-N frequency
Inc. was established in San Jose, Calif. in 1995.
synthesizer chip, to Tony
In January of 1996, Peregrine signed a six-year
Mauro and Bar-Giora
fab agreement with AKM.
Goldberg, CTO at Sciteq
Electronics. Peregrine
Peregrine and Xilinx signed a licensing
had begun a strategic
agreement allowing Peregrine to manufacture
In 1996, the executive team at
relationship with Sciteq Electronics in early 1994, and
and sell its own three­-volt, UltraCMOS versions
the chip design had been finalized in November 1994.
of Xilinx’s XC3000 field programmable gate
array family. This was the first demonstration of
UltraCMOS technology for digital applications.
“
My entrepreneurial history and
spirit spurred me to take on this
joined the team from Hughes
challenge—bringing a brand new
he managed the technology
It’s amazing Peregrine succeeded .
Mark Burgener, co-founder of Peregrine
1995
the addition of Jim Cable as VP
Jim, Peregrine’s current CEO,
Microelectronics Center where
and fab operations for the
market. But it was quite the challenge.
The White House launched
a web page.
Peregrine was enriched with
of Technology and Operations.
technology and new products to
1994
Peregrine Expands
Executive Team
company.
”
1996
The Word is Spreading
In the June 29, 1997 issue of BusinessWeek Magazine, Peregrine was featured in a story
about the future of very small communications devices. The communication revolution
was alive and well, and Peregrine remained poised to make a significant contribution. The
discussion around the “micro communicator” was growing.
And that was just the beginning. Vertical industry publications were talking about the technology
innovation; business publications were talking about the applications. Headlines included:
June 2, 1997: EE Times “Sapphire-substrate process applied to SOI”
July 6, 1997: The Sunday Times Business “Sapphire chips cut the size of phones”
August 25, 1997: Electronic News “Peregrine Unveils PLL Chip Using Ultra-Thin Process”
January 1998: Microwave Journal “An Ultra-Thin Silicon Technology That Provides
Integration Solutions on Standard CMOS”
August 1998: Applied Microwave & Wireless “Ultra Low Power PLL from Peregrine
Semiconductor Makes its Debut”
And local media outlets were beginning to recognize the results. As the U-T San Diego
explained in an August 1997 article on “San Diego’s Cool 25 for 1997”:
TINIER PHON
ES STUDDED
WITH CHIPS
SAPPHIRE WR
OF
ISTWATCH CO
MMUNICATO
could finally be
RS
come a reality,
thanks to new
technology from
startup Peregrin
e Semiconductor
Corp. The San
Diego-based co
mpany has perf
a process to buil
ected
d ultrathin silico
n chips on a ba
pure sapphire.
se of
Unlike semicon
ductor bases, w
hich allow som
electricity to pa
e
ss through (hen
ce the name--th
semi-conduct),
ey
the sapphire laye
r is nonconduct
That means that
ive.
radio frequency
and logic circuit
that previously
s
had to be built
in separate chip
because they in
s
terfered with ea
ch other can now
crammed side-b
be
y-side on a singl
e chip. Peregrin
licensed the tech
e
has
nology to a Japa
nese chipmaker
the company pr
,
an
d
edicts that by n
ext year, such ch
could lead to ch
ip
s
eaper satellites
and mobile phon
By 2001, the tech
es.
nology should en
able the making
tiny portable co
of
mmunicators, su
ch as Dick Tracy
wristwatch phon
-style
es. Watch out, P
runeface! EDIT
BY CATHERIN
ED
E ARNST Andy
Reinhardt
Peregrine likes to call itself the “Microcommunicator Company”...already Peregrine has been able to reduce the
7-to-10 chips found in a mobile phone to a single chip that uses a tenth of the power to operate.
The world met Dolly the sheep,
the first mammal to be cloned
from cells of an adult animal.
1997-1998
Google
founded.
Going Where No Man Has
Gone Before
New Products, New Fab,
First Million Piece Order
To expand European operations, Peregrine
In 2000, Peregrine launched the PE4120, the
opened Peregrine Semiconductor Europe in
world’s most linear MOFSET quad mixer. In
1999.
the same year, Peregrine acquired a wafer
fabrication facility in Sydney, Australia with
The PE9601 became the first Peregrine
product in space. It was launched by NT Space
(then NEC). This would be the first of many
Peregrine products that would find their way
into space – reaching every planet except
Uranus.
Fully Integrated
Switches, New Business
Unit, Making the
Investment
the goal of significantly increasing production
capability for their highly integrated radio
frequency synthesizer and transceiver chips for
wireless customers. The company also shipped
its first million piece order to MiniCircuits. This
was the first order shipped from the newly
In 2001, Peregrine shipped its first RF
acquired Australian fab facility.
SOI fully integrated switches – the
PE4210/20/30 for cable TV, military and
other markets out of the newly acquired
Australian fab facility. The company also
announced that year that it had completed
construction of its clean room upgrade
to enable the fabrication of .25 micron
integrated circuits in its Australian fab.
The U.S. Defense Microelectronics Activity
The first full internet service
on mobile phones was
introduced in Japan by NTT
DoCoMo.
1999
selected Peregrine Semiconductor to supply
The dot-com
bubble burst.
2000
advanced process technology for radiation
hardened integrated circuits. The contract
was valued at $4.8 million.
2001
New Products, New Partners
Heading to Mars
After years of success in the military and aerospace markets, Peregrine
Equipped with a Peregrine PLL, the Mars Express Orbiter from
formally formed the Space and Defense Business Unit to address the
the European Space Agency began its journey 400 million
increasing interest and business opportunities being presented in that
miles into space in 2003.
market segment. The unit was led by Ron Reedy.
That same year, the company introduced the industry’s highest
performance PLL synthesizers with embedded EEPROM fieldprogrammable memory – the PE3341 and PE3342. The company also
entered into a strategic UltraCMOS partnership agreement with Oki
Electric.
The United States
Department of Homeland
Security officially began
operation.
Euro notes and
coins were first
circulated.
2002
2003
The Spirit Rover launched,
beginning NASA’s Mars
Exploration Rover mission.
Entry Into Handsets
HaRP™
Another Breakthrough for Handsets
In 2004, Peregrine entered into the handset
market and in August, introduced the
In October 2005, Peregrine introduced the patented HaRP™
world’s first high power, high linearity, fully
design technology enabling dramatic improvement in harmonic
integrated RF SOI UltraCMOS flip-chip
performance, linearity and overall RF performance. This breakthrough
SP4T handset switch for dual-band GSM
would continue to offer significantly differentiated performance for
handsets – the PE4261. Through advanced
Peregrine products in the years to come.
packaging technology, the fully integrated RF UltraCMOS
In 2005, the Peregrine PE4305 and PE4306 were in mass production.
handset switch reduced the printed circuit board (PCB) area by a
factor of nine when compared to conventional wire bonding.
The company also announced an RF switch for broadband
applications that exceeded the strict FCC 15.115 regulations.
In 2004, Peregrine introduced the world’s first single chip digital
step attenuator (DSA), the PE430x (1-6) family. These DSAs were
the most linear, most accurate RF CMOS DSAs available and were
the best chips of its kind for nearly a decade.
The Rosetta Space Probe from ESA launched in March 2004
carrying Peregrine radio control chips. The probe will rendezvous
with the 67P/Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The trip to the
YouTube, the popular
Internet site on which
videos may be shared
and viewed by others,
launched in the
United States.
comet will take 10 years to accomplish and then it will spend two
years actively investigating.
In 2004, Peregrine continued to expand its extensive IP portfolio
with the issuance of the first patent in the RF switch family.
2004
2005
Microsoft
released the
Xbox 360
gaming console.
Heading to Pluto
Rewarded for Innovation
Mobile Antenna Tuning
In August 2007, Peregrine Semiconductor
Peregrine announced the UltraCMOS DTC
was recognized by Frost & Sullivan for
technology for mobile antenna tuning in
their commitment to innovation and
2008. Peregrine’s digital tunable capacitor
global excellence with receipt of the 2007
(DTC) technology provided a solution to
Global Wireless Radio Frequency Emerging
one of the biggest challenges in RF design –
Technology of the Year Award.
antenna impedance matching. Peregrine’s
UltraCMOS DTC technology became the
ideal solution for both cellular and mobile
TV applications. In February, Peregrine filed
In 2006, Peregrine was selected by the
the patent for digitally tuning a capacitor in
European Space Agency to develop the first PLL
an integrated circuit device.
device that would be integrated in European
With two critical Peregrine chips inside,
space applications. In April, ESA launched the
Motorola announced multi-band two-way
Venus Express with Peregrine parts.
radios for first responders.
NASA’s New Horizons space vehicle equipped
with Peregrine parts was launched for Pluto
with an anticipated arrival date of July 2015.
The journey will take New Horizons past Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn.
Google acquired
YouTube for $1.65
billion in stock.
2006
Apple released the first
generation iPhone.
2007
The first Android-powered
phone was sold.
2008
The Return of Hayabusa
Big Number, Big Milestones
In May 2003, the unmanned spacecraft
2011 was a milestone year for Peregrine. The company won several
Hayabusa (literal translation from Japanese is
awards and announced multiple industry-leading products, but the
“Peregrine Falcon”) carrying Peregrine chips
biggest announcement in 2011 was when Peregrine shipped its one
for the radio control was launched to asteroid
billionth chip.
Itoawa by the Japanese Space Agency. In June
For test and measurement
2010, the craft returned carrying space dust
applications, Peregrine
from the asteroid for scientific investigation.
announced an SPDT device
Peregrine partnered with Soitec to develop the new bonded SOS
that operated from 9kHZ to
substrate that was qualified for use in manufacturing Peregrine’s
6.0 GHz. The RF switch was
next generation STeP5 UltraCMOS RF IC semiconductors.
used by Rohde & Schwarz
in the R&S SMA 100A signal
generator.
NASA launched a one-way
mission to Jupiter. With an anticipated arrival date of July 4, 2016,
the Juno mission, equipped with a Peregrine PLL, will orbit Jupiter 33
times and then intentionally self-destruct into the planet.
Super Bowl XLIV –
New Orleans Saints
defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17
to win their first super bowl.
Apple released
the iPad.
2010
2011
IEEE Recognizes Peregrine Founders
Peregrine founders, Mark Burgener and Ron Reedy, received the Daniel E. Noble Medal for Emerging
Technology from the IEEE in 2011. The following is taken directly from the IEEE publication announcing
the award and chronicles the challenges faced, and overcome, to bring silicon on sapphire technology to
market as a viable commercial product:
The persistence and contributions of Mark L. Burgener and Ronald E. Reedy overcame barriers to
make silicon on sapphire (SOS) technology commercially feasible for wireless communications. Drs.
Burgener and Reedy stood by SOS technology that, despite great promise, had initially been abandoned
by semiconductor market leaders. First discovered during the 1960s, SOS technology presented
manufacturing problems that prevented companies from pursuing commercialization. The efforts of
Drs. Burgener and Reedy during the 1980s and 1990s overcame these obstacles, making SOS commercially
viable for producing integrated circuits with improved speed, lower power consumption, and more
isolation compared to bulk silicon circuits. Even after demonstrating viable SOS circuits, the pair had
to erase the stigma associated with the earlier problems. They co-founded Peregrine Semiconductor
in 1990 to spur their commercialization efforts. They developed the UltraCMOS process, which solved
critical manufacturing issues and made SOS cost-effective. After an initial shipment of 100 chips in 1995, today Peregrine has sold over 500 million
UltraCMOS integrated circuits. Both IEEE Members, Dr. Burgener is vice president of advanced research and Dr. Reedy is the chief operating officer at
Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, San Diego, Calif.
That same year, Argonne National Laboratory was awarded the R&D 100 Award for an Integrated RF MEMS Switch/CMOS Device. Peregrine was
credited and cited as a co-developer/contributor to this award-winning technology.
The space shuttle Atlantis
launched into space. It was
the final flight of NASA’s
space shuttle program.
2011
With the second launch of the
SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX became
the first privately held company
to successfully launch, orbit and
recover a spacecraft.
Peregrine Goes Public
Continuing to Lead the Soi Revolution
In 2013, Peregrine signed a collaborative sourcing and licensing
agreement with Murata Manufacturing Company, the leading
supplier of RF front-end modules for the global mobile wireless
marketplace.
Today, Peregrine, the founder of commercialized RF SOI, continues
to revolutionize the industry with high-performance, integrated RF
solutions. The company offers industry-leading products for market
leaders in aerospace/defense, automotive, broadband, energy
management, industrial, mobile devices, test and measurement
equipment and wireless infrastructure.
On August 8, 2012, Peregrine stock began trading on the NASDAQ
under the ticker symbol “PSMI.” The IPO raised $77 million dollars
as the company sold 5.35 million shares at $14 each. Peregrine CEO
Jim Cable rang the opening bell of the NASDAQ on Nov. 27, 2012.
Felix Baumgartner
broke the sound barrier
in a 24-mile free fall.
2012
The world population
reached 7 billion
inhabitants according to
the United Nations.
2013
Celebrating 25 Years of Continued Innovation
As Peregrine celebrates their 25-year anniversary, they share with the world two landmark
announcements:
2 Billion Chips
A few short years after shipping the first billion units, Peregrine has reached the two billion chip mark.
The two billionth chip was shipped in an order to Murata Manufacturing Company.
Accelerating RF Front-End Design with UltraCMOS 10
Technology Platform
Peregrine announces UltraCMOS 10 technology, once again setting the worldwide performance
standard for RF CMOS. UltraCMOS 10 technology platform delivers both flexibility and unparalleled
performance for addressing the ever-increasing challenges of RF front-end design. Peregrine’s latest
update delivers the performance of the UltraCMOS technology with the economies of SOI and delivers
a 50-percent performance improvement over comparable RF SOI processes.
Peregrine is enhancing a long-term relationship and leveraging a new one for the UltraCMOS 10
technology introduction – Soitec’s revolutionary semiconductor materials coupled with tier-one fab
GLOBALFOUNDARIES’ custom fabrication flow.
Peregrine’s versatile, new 130 nm UltraCMOS 10 technology can deliver the support needed for the
latest generation of LTE-Advanced smartphones and, for the first time, will allow the company to
deliver cost-competitive products for 3G smartphones.